Lap welding machine



E. BRYAN LAP WELDING MACHINE July 7 1931.

6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 26, 1928 3067 67 1 flryaiz ATTORNEY July 7, 1931. Q E {BRYAN 1 1,813,727

LAP WELDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 26, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY July 7, 1931. E, BRYAN 1,813,727

LAP WELDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 26, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Q .3 3+ Nb $5 .6 P. ha m6 &\ y Q Sw V INVENTOR 0 BY A66;

ATTORNEY g. M M

July 1,1931. 1 EBRYAN 1,813,727

LAP WELDING MACHINE ATTORNEY I July 7, 1931. E. BRYAN LAP WELDING MACHINE Filed Nov. 26, 1928 6 SheetsSheet 5 Ewe/"e KB/ a 7a INVENTOR ATTORNEY VXZMM .July 7, 1931. E. BRYAN 1,813,727

LAP WELDING MACHINE Filed Nov'. 26, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 'IIIIIIIIII}! w am /M BY fmm Fatenteolduly 7, 1931 STATES PATENT OFFICE EVERETT BRYAN, or ci lcnco, ILLINOIS, Assranon or ONE-EAL]? T0 CARROLL JUD H A O, l I O S LA]? WELDING MACHINE Application filed November 26, 1928. Serial in. 322,023.

This invention relates to a machine for forming lap welded pipes, the general object of the invention being to provide means whereby a pipe can be formed in one opera- 5 tion and with one heating, thus materially decreasing the cost of production and insuring a better product.

Another object of the invention is to so form the parts that the metal is pulled 0 through the formingrolls instead of being pu hed hr gh A still further object of the invention is to so form and arrange the parts of the machine that different sizes of parts can be used :1 and the other parts can be adjusted to form pipes of different sizes.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several 20 parts, to be hereinafter fully described, il-

lustrated in the accompanying drawings and p i ical y poi te o i the ppen ed claim.

In describing the invention in detail, refe ence will be had to th acco panying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation, with parts in ii section.

Figure 2 is a top plan view. Figure 3 is a section on line 3.-.3 of Figure 1, showing a pipe being formed Figure at is a section on line 41- 1 of Figure 3,'with the upper roll in raised position and the mandrel carrying parts moved to inoperative position.

7 Figure 5 is a section on line ,55 of Figure 4. V

Figure 5 is a view of the slide which operates the upper roll.

Figure 6 is an elevation of the roll carrying part of the device, with the upper roll in raised position.

4 Figure 7 is a section on line 77 of Fig,-

ure 5.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side view with parts in section, showing the lever assembly moved to one side to expose the die member 50 and its associated parts.

Figure 9 is a view of the, die supporting member and its associated parts.

Figure 10 is a section on line 10-1O of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a plan view of the die member.

Figure 12 is a face View of said member,

Figure 13 is a section on line l3.l3 of Figure 12.

Figure 14 is an enlarged sectional iew showing the pipe being welded between the 10 two rollers and the interior member.

ur l i n end iew f F igur 14.

F gure 6 i a i w of he nt r o m mber and a part of its carrying arm, the member being separated from the arm and shown in ii? section.

F g re 17 s a ec onal Vi sh w ng o of the cylinders and its valve which controls the flow of air to the cylinder.

Figure 18 is a similar view but showing "74 the alve in a iffe ent P t n o as o ause the air o fl i a e ers i ction to the cylinder,

F gu e 1.9 s a detail ct on l V w show.- ing the valve in closed position. Figure 20 is an elevation of the valve.

n the e ra ing the um ra dic tes a supporting frame which is provided. with thewheels 2 for engaging the track 3, this track being arranged parallel to the front of the battery of furnaces A so that the device can be brought opposite the door of any desired furnace. A bench frame 13 has one end connected with the lower part ofthe supporting frame 1 and the lower end of 5. this bench frame carries one or more wheels 4. This bench frame carries the usual endless chain 5 and the sprockets 6 for the chain. The bench frame is arranged on the side of the device opposite to that side which is adjacent the furnaces.

The lower welding roll 7 is jonrnaled in the supporting frame 1 at a point Where the top part of the roll is slightly above the inner end of the chain, The upper welding roll 8 is journaled in the sliding frame .9 which is movable in openings formed in the uprights of the main frame 1, this frame 9 having guiding ribs 10 thereon for engaging grooves 11 formed in the walls of the open ings in the main frame so that the frame 9 is vertically movable in said openings. A second sliding frame 12 is arranged. in the top part of the main frame and is adjustably connected with the top of the frame 9 by the threaded shaft 13 which is pivotally connected with the top of the frame 9 and is attached to the bottom of the frame 12 by the nuts 14. This frame 12 carries the upper and lower rollers 15 which are engaged by the inclined portions 16 formed on the upper and lower. edges of the sliding member 17 which has ribs 18 at its sides for engaging horizontal grooves 19 formed in the guiding members 20 on the top of the main frame so that sliding movement of this member 17 will act to raise and lower the frame 12, which in turn will act to raise and lower the frame 9 and the upper welding roll 8 so that said roll 8 is moved toward and away from the roll 7.

The member 17 is pivotally connected to the piston rod 21 of a piston 22 placed in a cylinder 23 which is supported on the top of the main frame and which is so connected with an air supply that the piston can be moved in either direction to cause the member 17 to raise and lower the frame 12.

A motor 24 is mounted on a table 25 which is attached to the lower part of the frame 1 and a pair of gears 26 is journaled in the uprights 27 arranged on the table. The shaft of the lower gear is connected to the motor shaft by a coupling 28 so that the gear will be rotated by the motor and the lower gear is connected by the double coupling 30 with the shaftof the lower roll 7 and a combined flexible and telescopic coupling 31 connects the upper gear 26 with the shaft of the upper roll so that said upper roll will be driven from the upper gear, while said upper roll is in either raised or lowered position.

A head block 33 has tongues 34 on its side edges which engage the guiding gears 34 formed in the furnace side of the main frame and this head block is removably held in adjusted position by the bolts 35 so that the block can be adjusted relative to the welding rolls and it can also be removed and substituted by one of a different size. This block is formed with the tapered opening 36 and with a notch 37 in its lower end and on the outer face thereof, and guiding projections 38 are arranged one on each side of the notch.

A die member 39 its in the opening 36 and has a depending projection 40 which is adapted to engage the notch 37 the guides 38 acting to guide the projection 40 into said notch when the die member is being placed in the block. This die member is of frustoconical shape with a substantially conical interior part 41 and its upper part is formed with a notch 42, the top wall of which merges into a part of the Wall of the opening 41 so that as the metal is drawn through the die member, one edge of the metal will enter this notch and thus form the lap for the tool being formed from the metal. As will be seen, the interior formation of this die member is such that as a strip of metal is passed through the same, the strip will be bent into tubular shape with one edge overlapping the other. Of course, a different sized die member is used with each size of head block.

An arm 43 is pivoted to the furnace side of the frame 1, as shown at 44, and this arm carries a forked extension 45 to which is pivoted a lever 46, to the lower end of which the mandrel rod 47 is pivoted. This rod passes through an opening in the lower end of the arm 43 and is slidably supported by a pin 43 passing through the opening. The mandrel 48 is of tubular construction and fits over the reduced end of the rod 47 and is removably fastened thereto by the pin 49 so that one mandrel can be removed and another substituted therefor. This mandrel is preferably of the shape shown in Figures 14, 15 and 16.

A cylinder 50 is supported in the frame 1 above the arm 43 and the piston 51 in said cylinder has its rod 52 provided with a slotted head 53. A block or button 54 is pivoted to the upper end of the lever 46 and is adapted to engage the slot in the head when the arm is in vertical position so that the lever will be rocked by the movement of the piston in the cylinder. A spring 55 connects the upper end of the button with the upper end of the lever and normally holds the button in a position where it will enter the slot in the head during the swinging movement of the lever and arm. A rod 56 is connected with the piston and passes through a hole in the head for holding the head against rotary movement. Springs 57 connect the upper part of the lever with the projection 45 and tend to hold the lever in a position with the mandrel rod retracted or with the mandrel in front of the die memher, as shown in Figure 4.

A cylinder 58 is pivotally supported on the main frame at one side of the arm 43 and the rod 59 of the piston 60 of said cylinder is attached to the arm 43 so that the movement of this piston will swing the arm from a position where the mandrel is in alignment with the die member to a position where the mandrel is located to one side of the die member, as shown in Figure 8. The

springs act to hold the parts in a position ime the head of the piston in cylinder 50 so that the lever will be rocked when the piston is moved in said cylinder 50. By pivoting the button or block 54 to the lever, the

lock will readily adjust itself on the lever as the piston 51 and the parts associated therewith are moving inwardly or outwardly.

Each of the three cylinders has one end connectedby a pipe 61 with one side of a valve casing 62 and a pipe 63 connects the other end of the cylinder with the opposite side of the casing. A pipe 64 connects each valve casing with a supply pipe which is suitably connected with a source of compressed air or the like and a pipe 66 connects each valve casing with an exhaust pipe 67. The inlet and exhaust pipes are connected with each casing at opposite sides thereof and these pipes connect with the casing at points midway between the points of connections of the pipes 61 and 63 with said casing.

A rotary valve 68 is arranged in each casing and each valve is provided with a pair of arc-shaped ports 69. Each valve is provided with a handle 70 and suitable inclieating means, shown generally at 71, are arranged for indicating when the valve is turned to off position or to a position where air will enter one end of the cylinder and escape from the other end or to a position where the air will enter the opposite end of the cylinder and escape from the other end. The indicating means are shown in Figure 20.

Thus it will be seen that each cylinder can have its pistons move in either one direction or the other by proper adjustment of the valve with which the cylinder is connected and this movement of each piston is entirely independent of the movements of the other pistons.

The valves are adjusted to move the piston 22 in cylinder 23 to the front of said cylinder in order to cause themember 17 to raise the frames 12 and 9 to lift the upper roll 8, to move piston 51 to the rear of cylinder 50 to retract the mandrel and to operate the piston 60 in cylinder 58 to swing the arm 43 and the parts associated therewith out of alignment with the head block, as shown in Figure 8. The welder seizes the metal strip C from which the pipe is to be formed, with the tongs D, slides the die member 39 over the tongs D and then passes the tongs D through the openings 32 in frame 1 and between the rolls 7 and 8. Then the top roll 8 is moved down over the tongs D. The ball at the end of the tong handle is placed in the hook E and the hook placed in engagement with one of the links of the chain 5, thus pulling the metal and the die member to the head block. The head block holds the die member and the metal passes through the die, forming a lap which the rolls 7 and 8 weld over the mandrel.

The complete formation of the tube or pipe is carried out in one operation and with one heating. The strip of metal has one end slightly pointed, as shown in Figure 3, and this end is slightly rounded so as to facilitate its entrance into the die member. As before stated, the machine can be moved along the track in front of each furnace.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is In a lap welding machine, a die member, a mandrel normally aligned with one end of said die member, an arm supporting said mandrel, a pivotally mounted leverl connected to said arm, yieldable means acting on said lever for supporting said mandrel in said named position, and pressure operating means for keeping said mandrel into and relative to said die member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EVERETT BRYAN. 

